David Artell says that George Cooper has handled the speculation surrounding his future extremely well. Cooper has remained a Crewe Alexandra player this summer despite some tentative offers coming in on deadline day.

The Alex boss dismissed those offers as derisory for a player of his talent and is delighted that the Warrington-born youngster will continue his development with us.

The Alex boss says that Cooper has continued to let his football do the talking and his start to the new season has seen him become one of the top assist makers in the EFL.

Artell told the club’s official web-site: “George is not daft. He knows his football and he knows what is in his best interest. He also knows that Crewe Alexandra has done fantastically well by him and that he has been allowed to develop here.

“He has handled everything in his stride and these things won’t bother him. He knows how much we value him as a player and he just has to keep on producing the performances he has been.

“George is a very good player and he has been helping us have success in the early part of the season but he is part of the squad here. We don’t give up and go home because George Cooper isn’t playing. We don’t rely on one player and we cannot rely on one play. We are a squad and he is a big part of that.”